Spirituality Tips Guides

Gas prices. It seems like that’s all some people can talk about. You turn on the news, and you hear about gas prices. You pick up the paper, and you read about gas prices.

Frankly, I’m tired of hearing about it. Does the constant rise in gas prices affect me? Of course. Am I aggravated that it takes more money to feed my car than it does to feed my family? Absolutely.

But, how does complaining about it help any of us? How does it help to keep such a negative topic in the forefront of our minds day after day? It doesn’t help us at all. In fact, it hinders us from focusing on more important things, like spiritual fuel.

I don’t know a lot about cars, but I do know that they must have gas before they will run. No fuel, no go!
Our bodies work in the same way. God created us in such a way that our bodies need nourishment from food in order to work properly.

So, acknowledging what we know about our physical bodies needing fuel, why should we think our spiritual bodies are any different? Why do we often deprive our faith of the fuel it needs to grow and thrive?

In Philippians 3, Paul said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.” In other words, he’s saying, “I’ve not arrived. I still have a lot of work to do on my faith.”

I think we can all say “Amen” to Paul’s statement. I believe we can agree that we have not reached the level of spiritual maturity that we long for. We possess the faith, but are we fueling that faith?

The Bible compares the Christian walk with a race. So, let me ask you this question: how often are you making pit stops? I don’t watch much auto racing, but more than once, I’ve seen a driver lose the race because his car ran out of gas. You can almost hear the conversation he has with himself as he passes that last pit stop. “I can make it a little father. I have enough fuel to finish. If I just keep going, I’ll win this thing.”

Good thought. Bad plan. By not giving his car what it needed, he cost himself the race. Not only did he not win, but he didn’t even get to finish the race.

Aren’t we like that sometimes, too? So busy with our daily demands and weekly routines, we bypass our spiritual fuel. We know we need to read the Bible, but it’s often just too difficult to fit in into our schedule. Our daily time with the Lord is interrupted by phone calls, sick children, or job emergencies.

Day after day, we struggle through, forsaking our spiritual fuel, then wondering why life is so difficult and why we can’t seem to gain any ground in our spiritual walk.

God has shown me time and time again that if I will devote the time to fueling my spiritual man, He will give me the time and energy to accomplish everything else on my “to do” list.

Try it out. See what happens when your spiritual tank is full. It will cost you some time, but you’ll soon discover that it’s well worth the price.

Dana Rongione is a full-time freelance writer in Greenville, SC. She enjoys sharing her faith, her love of writing, and the many opportunities now available to freelancers. For faith-filled messages, check out her blog at www.danarongione.blogspot.com For information on how you can make money writing at home, check out www.productsupplycenter.com/web62203

When you become a true believer in not only yourself but of the workings around you, it’s always going to lead you where you want to go. Accepting something, is not the same thing as believing. In fact, the word believe by definition means; To have faith, confidence; to believe in a person. As the great philosopher F.W. Robertson said, “To believe is to be happy, to doubt is to be wretched. To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power. Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do anything that is worth doing.” This somewhat coincides with Andrew Carnegie’s quote; “Anything in life worth having is worth working for.” And it’s true, believing in yourself, and believing you will get the good things you deserve in life, can sometimes be very hard. But if you truly believe it, and you think its worth it, then it’s also worth the work it takes to achieve it!

But how exactly does someone start the process? It takes some pretty simple and yet pretty hard steps. Now, I know some of you might feel “odd” doing the things I’m about to tell you to do, but I can tell you that this works, and not only does it work but it also builds your confidence up, which then builds your belief up in yourself, which then leads to achieving all those things you want to achieve! You’re going to feel goofy at first but it’s just you and yourself so without further ado; Several times a day look into a mirror, look directly at your face, in your eyes and out loud say these words:

In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete. I support myself, and life supports me. I see evidence of the law working all around me, and in every area of my life. I reinforce that which I learned to enjoy its ways. My day begins with gratitude and joy. I look forward with enthusiasm to the adventures of the day, knowing that in my life, “all is good.” I love who I am, and all that I do. I am the living, loving, joyous expression of life. All is well in my world.

Now if this sounds familiar to you, great! This is a positive affirmation by one of my favorite authors; Louise Hay. In her book titled “You Can Heal Your Life,” there are several positive affirmations such as the one above between the chapters of the book. The one above, is one of 6 I say every morning before I do anything else, and every night before I go to bed. So yes, this does work because I know from experience. These positive affirmations are incredibly important, and it’s also nice because you don’t have to make up your own affirmations if you are uncomfortable with it, there are millions out there! You can also use these pre-written affirmations as your own and add or subtract your own stuff, its like a positive thinking script!

I love these things, I find on days when I miss doing these for whatever my excuse is, I end up not feeling as good as if I would if I had done them. Its sort of like the domino effect. One thing happens that’s negative, then you think about it too much, and oh hey here comes another negative thing and another and so on and so forth. But when I start my day out with affirmations, it’s a mental reminder to myself or almost like a sugar pill, it gives me the courage to be positive and happy and joyous all day long. And this too, can work for you as well! Just gotta put a little “elbow grease” into it so to speak! Check out some affirmations online, print the ones out you like, and seriously do these for a month and you will see for yourself, I’m not delusional! This stuff really does work!

This author is a HUGE fan of You become what you think about most. Change your intention, change your results. I recommend www.envisionfreedom.net

Dr. Maxwell Maltz author of Psycho Cybernetics called visualization “the theatre of the mind.” The more clearly you see yourself in a new career, bigger home, more energetic, in a happier relationship, the more you support the idea and the belief the more of a chance you have that it will come to you. Einstein once said that everything is energy and energy is in constant motion. So when your sitting still, expecting things to happen to you, good chance is, nothing will happen to you. I know that we are all socially programmed and most of us have the “I gotta see it to believe it” out look on life. However, if you would just try for a week to visualize yourself in a nicer home, or with the right partner, the Universe would then see, okay this person really wants this, and they not only just want to receive it, but they feel like they will receive it, and that it’s possible.

When you have self doubt, or better yet, doubt at what the Universe can do, those negative “vibes” so to speak, reach out to the Universe. For example, if you really need a new car, and you look out into your driveway, what do you see? You will probably see the 10 years too old Jeep, the one that’s always giving you problems. In fact, you put more money into the car, than you bought it for. You need a decent looking car so you can apply for a sales position and have dependable transportation to go to client appointments. As you prepare to receive your new car by applying the Law of Attraction, you are ready to visualize this gift.

Visualizations are a targeted and detailed way to prepare you to receive what you need. Begin each day by seeing in your mind a “film” of how you want to start the day. See yourself waking up on time, full of energy, you pick the perfect outfit for the day, you feel really good. Better than you ever have. You walk outside, look down the driveway, and there it is, your brand new car. It’s a black XJ Jaguar, the rims are shining in the sun, and all you can do is smile. Now the next part might seem a little silly, but its what’s needed! Picture in the “movie” of your mind, opening the door to this car, you see the black leather seats, the amazing stereo system, the gauges on the speedometer, the tinted windows, and get IN the car. Imagine how nice that “new car” smell is, how shiny and new it looks inside, imagine how you feel inside.

Now it’s a really good idea to visit a showroom and find a car you love, after you make your choice, get a photo of that car, or better yet of you in the car so you can use this photo as the image for your visualization. You can do this with anything, a new car, a new house, a vacation you have been wanting to go on. Personally I have what’s called a dream board (others call it a treasure map), and I have cut through magazines and picked out ALL the items I want, got a poster board which only costs a few bucks, and glued all my “items” on that board. Up above the title in silver marker says “Things I Have”. Sure, its not things I have but can I tell you all the things I have gotten from my board? I have about 23 things on there, and in a year, I have received 13. So, this does work. But you have to work at it to make it work! Even if it means saying little fibs to yourself such as “Things I Have”, which isn’t really a fib, it’s just stretching the reality of your truth.

You can do your visualizations, any day, any time you want. But make sure after your done visualizing that you say a brief thank you to the Universe for the new car you are about to receive. Each time you replay your visualization, add more details or add more information. With practice, you will feel as if you are in a surround sound movie theatre, watching your wonderful life unfold!

This author is a HUGE fan of Apply “The Secret” to your life. Visit www.envisionfreedom.net to see where the Secret Left off